


Hitchhiking, Baby

by airedis



Category: SHINee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2015-07-28
Packaged: 2018-04-11 17:54:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4446071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/airedis/pseuds/airedis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was a skinny blob on the side of the road, shrouded in darkness and looking, for all intents and purposes, utterly suspicious.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hitchhiking, Baby

**Author's Note:**

> based on the prompt "i really want to go to this concert but my friend bailed and i don’t have a car so i’m hitchhiking and you were the only person that stopped, so will you take me there? i’ll even give you the extra ticket"
> 
> i just wanted to write a cute jongtae tbh

There was a skinny blob on the side of the road, shrouded in darkness and looking, for all intents and purposes, utterly suspicious. Jonghyun’s eyes narrowed as he approached the blob, slowing down cautiously, foot braced over the gas pedal just in case this was something really _not good_. The headlights of his car washed over the blob, revealing the squinting figure of a boy with wind-disheveled hair and a sad looking backpack.

The kid’s outstretched arm dropped as Jonghyun slowly rolled to a stop next to him. He was a mess of skin and bones and, despite the state of his artfully ripped jeans, didn’t look like any sort of runaway or criminal. After a quick assessment in which he deemed the kid to be not dangerous, Jonghyun rolled down the window.

“Oh thank god,” the kid said, bag dropping from his shoulder and into the crook of his elbow. “I’ve been waiting out here for over an hour.”

“Uh.” Jonghyun blinked as the kid stared at him expectantly. “Why?”

“Because no one would stop,” the kid said, looking back at Jonghyun like he was an idiot.

“No, I meant – never mind.” Jonghyun shifted his arm over the window, hanging out a little further so that he could get a better look at the kid. “You okay?”

The kid paused, blinked down at himself before he shrugged. “Yeah? Look, I’m trying to get into the city, could you give me a ride?”

“Uh.” Jonghyun’s brain was suddenly non-functioning in the presence of this strange and not-as-dirty-as-he-seemed-from-far-away kid. “Yeah, yeah – where are you going?”

He didn’t get an answer right away, watching a tad wearily as the kid walked around the front of the car, opened the passenger door, and slid into the seat. The door slammed shut with an air of finality.

“The big amphitheater. You know it?”

“Yeah, I know it,” Jonghyun replied, pulling away from the side of the road.

There was a beat of silence that was so thick that Jonghyun instantly regretted his decision to let this kid into his car because, oh god, the whole drive was going to be really awkward now wasn’t it? But then the light voice piped up, “Thanks for picking me up, man, it really means a lot.”

“No problem.” Jonghyun sounded more casual than he felt, but he was getting there.

“My name’s Taemin, by the way.” He made a movement like he was about to stick his hand out to shake Jonghyun’s before he realized that that would have been potentially dangerous. Even though there was no one on the road but them.

It was the principle of the thing.

“Jonghyun. What are you going to the amphitheater for?”

“Concert tonight,” the kid – _Taemin_ – said, staring out the front window. His face scrunched up in irritation and he looked a little bit like a pug. A really shaggy pug with ripped jeans. “My friend was going to go too but then he ditched me.”

Taemin’s disgruntled look settled more firmly on his face as his voice took on a deeper, mocking tone. “I’ve got a date tonight, Taemin-ah.” He scoffed. “Yeah, because we didn’t try and get these tickets for like two whole hours or anything.”

Jonghyun fished for something to say.

“Oh,” he managed.

And just a tad too late to be considered sincere or even normal-sounding, “that sucks.”

Taemin nodded, vigorous and put upon, and swept away any of Jonghyun’s potential embarrassment.

“Hey,” Taemin said suddenly, turning sharply in his seat and nearly causing Jonghyun to jerk the steering wheel to the side out of shock.

Taemin either didn’t notice or paid no heed as he continued on, “do you want the extra ticket?”

He started fishing around in his pocket before Jonghyun could stop him.

“Here,” he insisted, thrusting it in front of Jonghyun’s face and partially obscuring his view of the dark, empty road.

“Thanks.” Jonghyun pressed his head back against the headrest as far as he could, reaching one hand up to grasp the ticket that was still just centimeters from his face. He glanced at it once it was no longer in danger of smothering him, not recognizing the name but shrugging anyway. Jonghyun figured he had some time to kill and music was as good a distraction as any.

Satisfied, Taemin settled back into his seat again.

Jonghyun let the radio fill in the silence, soft rock drifting in between the seats and out the window in cottony, rolling whirls. It was nice, he thought, eyes focused on the road ahead. It was almost like being with a friend, this quiet, companionable silence familiar and comforting.

“How the hell did you get out here anyway?” Jonghyun asked, glancing over. Taemin shifted in his seat, slouching comfortably, bag nestled between his legs.

“I sorta maybe…” Taemin’s voice whittled away into almost nothing. “…Climbed into the back of a truck.”

“Are you kidding me?”

Jonghyun took the chance and fixed him with a look. A guilty, shit-eating grin crossed Taemin’s face.

“Yes?”

“Oh my god.” Jonghyun let out a breath, a huff of a laugh that simmered in his stomach and pushed past his lips in a rush of warm air. “I can’t believe you,” he managed through his disbelieving chuckles.

“So why were you out on the side of the road, then?”

“They started going onto one of the exits!” Taemin exploded, a jumble of youthful annoyance. “Can you believe that? Why the hell didn’t they just keep going?”

“Maybe you forgot to tell them where you needed to be?”

Taemin’s mouth opened before he caught the teasing tone in Jonghyun’s voice, the playful and admonishing raised eyebrow. His mouth snapped shut with a click and he turned back towards the window. Still, Jonghyun caught the smile sneaking at the corner of Taemin’s mouth.

Jonghyun parked the car and they walked a couple of blocks to the amphitheater. Taemin led the way, eyes peering excitedly this way and that as they walked through the technicolor streets. They easily fell behind a small crowd of people that were making their way into the amphitheater and Jonghyun felt distinctly out of place among all of these energetic, easy going people.

Taemin pulled him, fingers strong around Jonghyun’s wrist, onto the grass in front of the stage. It was packed, warm bodies pressed in against him on all sides, and Jonghyun was about to suggest maybe moving up into some of the seats when the lights went down. Thrilled screams erupted around him and Jonghyun thought he could maybe even pick out Taemin’s voice hooting beside him.

The lights went up, bright and flickering as sound pounded out of the speakers. And suddenly, there was movement, pulling at Jonghyun, pushing him back and forth and up and down, thrumming through him like the heavy bass pouring into his ears. Jonghyun tried to ground himself, found Taemin, eyes closed and head bobbing aggressively to the beat.

He looked like he was made to be there, right in that moment.

Jonghyun felt the air leave him, and he was light again. He loosened up and let the movement of the crowd jostle him as he took in the music. He’d never felt anything like this before, so out of place and included all at the same time. A loud riff carried Jonghyun’s eyes open and, not knowing when they closed, Jonghyun felt a rush of giddiness whip through him.

Taemin caught his eye and grinned over at him, lights flashing behind his head, cracking through the air and lighting up his dark hair like a galaxy. And Jonghyun really couldn’t do anything but grin back, energy fizzling at his fingertips.


End file.
